Gaza crisis: Horror as Israel shells second school despite SEVENTEEN United Nations alerts

WARNING GRAPHIC IMAGES Around 3,000 Palestinians were taking refuge in the school. At least 15 people were killed and 125 injured there

Israeli shells blasted a school run by the United Nations in a Gaza refugee camp today before targeting a market in the eastern Gaza strip - killing at least 34 people and wounding 285 others in the two attacks.

Around 3,000 Palestinians were taking refuge in the school, in Jebalya camp, when it came under fire around dawn. At least 15 people were killed and 125 injured there.

In a highly controversial statement, the head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, Pierre Krahenbuhl, said the agency had given the school’s precise location to the Israeli military 17 times, with the last notification made just hours before the shelling.

He said: “I condemn in the strongest possible terms this serious violation of international law by Israeli forces.”

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Horror: A Palestinian boy with serious burns fights for his life

Jebalya, which has been under Israeli fire for the past two days hours, is the largest refugee camp in the Gaza Strip.

The local health ministry said that 19 were killed and 160 wounded near the market. Residents said Israeli shelling and two missiles from the air hit the area in Shejaia, on the fringes of the city of Gaza.

Ashraf al-Qidra, spokesman of the Gaza Health Ministry, said in all 90 people were killed in the enclave today.

More than 200,000 people have taken shelter trying to escape fighting between Israel and militant groups in the 23-day-old conflict.

Blood splattered floors and mattresses lay inside classrooms and some survivors were left to pick through shattered glass and debris for flesh and body parts to bury.

The Israeli military today said it had struck 75 sites, including five mosques it claimed were being used by militants.

At the same time, intense tank shelling was reported in some areas, including in Jebaliya.

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Devastation: The wrecked school in Jabaliya

Victim Abdel-Karim al-Masamha, 27, said he and his family had come to the school that was hit after fleeing fighting near their home in the northern Gaza Strip.

He said: “We did not find safety here. People were martyred before our eyes. They were dismembered.”

At the edge of the schoolyard - the second UN-run school to be hit by Israel in the conflict - some 20 donkeys also lay dead, still tied to a railing.

Starting at around 4.30am, several shells hit the compound of the Abu Hussein school, a few minutes apart.

Principal, Fayez Abu Dayeh, said shells tore through two classrooms and a bathroom.

After widespread condemnation, the Israeli military said that it would hold fire unilaterally in limited areas of the Gaza Strip for four hours for humanitarian purposes.

But Hamas described the truce as a media stunt because it only applied to some areas.

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said of the truce: “The declared calm ... is worthless because it excludes the hot areas along the Gaza borders and we will not be able to benefit from it to evacuate the wounded in those area.”

Meanwhile Prime Minister David Cameron today announced an extra £3 million aid for Gaza as he again called for an unconditional ceasefire to stop the conflict.

Mr Cameron said Britain had already given £7 million in aid but, questioned about the conflict at an event today, added: “And I can announce today we are going to give an further £3 million of aid to help make sure the people in Gaza have the basic necessities of life, the food, the shelter and the assistance that they need.”

He again repeated the call for both Israel and Hamas to put down their weapons - but blamed Hamas for breaking ceasefires.

“We should be very clear that we want an unconditional, immediate, humanitarian ceasefire that applies to everybody.”

Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond also called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, after what was believed to have been the deadliest day of the conflict on Tuesday, when 128 Palestinians died.

However, Mr Hammond refused to say whether he thought Israel’s actions in Gaza were disproportionate.

Asked five times on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme whether he thought Israel’s military action was disproportionate, he said there will be a proper evaluation of the offensive “in the fullness of time”.

The overall Palestinian death toll in the three-week conflict stands at 1,258 at least, with more than 7,100 wounded, according to local health officials. Israel has lost 53 soldiers and three civilians.